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I paid $60 a month for catastrophic healthcare from State Farm when I ran a ramen profitable startup. My deductible was $1500. When I nearly cut my toe off wa

by uuilly 16y ago

I paid $60 a month for catastrophic healthcare from State Farm when I ran a ramen profitable startup. My deductible was $1500. When I nearly cut my toe off walking on a beach, I had surgery, $1000 worth of antibiotics and two follow up visits. I paid a grand total of $1500 for everything. I know I'm a healthy young man, but that seemed like a pretty fair deal to me. Amazingly this plan will soon become illegal for being too minimalist under the new healthcare laws. I get that there are real problems with healthcare in the US. But entrepreneurs are mostly healthy young men, and it doesn't cost much to insure healthy young men.

_delirium 16y ago
> But entrepreneurs are mostly healthy young men Could this be at least in part a self-fulfilling prophecy? Due to the way healthcare is set up in the U.S., the only people who really can consider quitting their jobs, and losing their group-health plan as a result, are: 1) people who are already rich (or have rich family); and 2) healthy young men. edit: Actually, I suppose people over 65 also can, due to the U.S.'s strange age-based national health system. But people over 65 tend not to be likely startup candidates for other reasons.
- rick888 16y ago
  "Could this be at least in part a self-fulfilling prophecy? Due to the way healthcare is set up in the U.S., the only people who really can consider quitting their jobs, and losing their group-health plan as a result, are: 1) people who are already rich (or have rich family); and 2) healthy young men" Health care is a small part of it. The other part is that once you have a stable income and a family (wife+kids), most people don't want to take the risk of losing that income because the risk will have lasting effects on their entire family. When you are young and have no dependents, you can take this risk. This is why you should get your company started first..and then settle down with a wife+kids.
  - beoba 16y ago
    Or go gay. You know. Either/or. Serious point though: It's relatively easy to take risks on your income when you're half of a DINK family.
    - danbmil99 16y ago
      Being gay no longer automatically avoids the married with kids & big expensive house problem, at least not in Silicon Valley.
      - beoba 16y ago
        I'd have figured closet marriages would be less common now, especially in the bay area, excepting senators/televangelists I suppose. Or are you referring to adoption? Ugh kids.
  - JoachimSchipper 16y ago
    The "need to support a family" argument may explain why founders are young men, but not why they are young men.
smokey_the_bear 16y ago
I know your point was specifically about young men, but this is one of the things that keeps women from doing startups. I'm young, healthy, female, and doing a startup, but one of my major concerns was finding a health care plan that would eventually cover maternity. Prior to the health reform law, if I'd developed any kind of condition I wouldn't have been able to switch plans, and even if I did, they often don't cover maternity for the first year. I could afford to pay the costs of a normal birth, but my nephew's cost $300,000.
- uuilly 16y ago
  So you're comfortable pushing those costs onto healthy young men?
  - hmottestad 16y ago
    In Norway healthy young men make the most money, so they pay the most taxes. Essentially it's a lot harder to get super rich in Norway, but then again it's a hell of a lot harder to become super poor. We find that if everyone is moderately rich things work fairly well. Edit: And there would be very few healthy young men if there were no healthy young women giving birth. Just check out Japan.
  - sp332 16y ago
    I don't know anyone who would mind pitching in a bit for a pregnant woman with complications.
    - uuilly 16y ago
      I can't imagine that many ramen profitable founders would prioritize the finances of pregnant women over the finances of their company.
    - jongraehl 16y ago
      You don't know anyone who would admit to minding, true.
  - andrewljohnson 16y ago
jberryman 16y ago
But entrepreneurs are mostly healthy young men, and it doesn't cost much to insure healthy young men You're begging the question. Perhaps healthy young bachelors are the ones quitting their jobs to make the next social-coupon-micro-dating websites because they are the only ones who aren't constrained by the factors we're discussing.
rshigeta 16y ago
That's debate in the US - everyone just says 'what is good for me'. The point of the article is that in Norway, the evaluation of 'what is good for us' works for them suprisingly well and doesn't stop people from starting businesses.

by uuilly 16y ago

_delirium 16y ago

> But entrepreneurs are mostly healthy young men Could this be at least in part a self-fulfilling prophecy? Due to the way healthcare is set up in the U.S., the only people who really can consider quitting their jobs, and losing their group-health plan as a result, are: 1) people who are already rich (or have rich family); and 2) healthy young men. edit: Actually, I suppose people over 65 also can, due to the U.S.'s strange age-based national health system. But people over 65 tend not to be likely startup candidates for other reasons.

rick888 16y ago
"Could this be at least in part a self-fulfilling prophecy? Due to the way healthcare is set up in the U.S., the only people who really can consider quitting their jobs, and losing their group-health plan as a result, are: 1) people who are already rich (or have rich family); and 2) healthy young men" Health care is a small part of it. The other part is that once you have a stable income and a family (wife+kids), most people don't want to take the risk of losing that income because the risk will have lasting effects on their entire family. When you are young and have no dependents, you can take this risk. This is why you should get your company started first..and then settle down with a wife+kids.
- beoba 16y ago
  Or go gay. You know. Either/or. Serious point though: It's relatively easy to take risks on your income when you're half of a DINK family.
  - danbmil99 16y ago
    Being gay no longer automatically avoids the married with kids & big expensive house problem, at least not in Silicon Valley.
    - beoba 16y ago
      I'd have figured closet marriages would be less common now, especially in the bay area, excepting senators/televangelists I suppose. Or are you referring to adoption? Ugh kids.
- JoachimSchipper 16y ago
  The "need to support a family" argument may explain why founders are young men, but not why they are young men.

smokey_the_bear 16y ago

I know your point was specifically about young men, but this is one of the things that keeps women from doing startups. I'm young, healthy, female, and doing a startup, but one of my major concerns was finding a health care plan that would eventually cover maternity. Prior to the health reform law, if I'd developed any kind of condition I wouldn't have been able to switch plans, and even if I did, they often don't cover maternity for the first year. I could afford to pay the costs of a normal birth, but my nephew's cost $300,000.

uuilly 16y ago
So you're comfortable pushing those costs onto healthy young men?
- hmottestad 16y ago
  In Norway healthy young men make the most money, so they pay the most taxes. Essentially it's a lot harder to get super rich in Norway, but then again it's a hell of a lot harder to become super poor. We find that if everyone is moderately rich things work fairly well. Edit: And there would be very few healthy young men if there were no healthy young women giving birth. Just check out Japan.
- sp332 16y ago
  I don't know anyone who would mind pitching in a bit for a pregnant woman with complications.
  - uuilly 16y ago
    I can't imagine that many ramen profitable founders would prioritize the finances of pregnant women over the finances of their company.
  - jongraehl 16y ago
    You don't know anyone who would admit to minding, true.
- andrewljohnson 16y ago

jberryman 16y ago

But entrepreneurs are mostly healthy young men, and it doesn't cost much to insure healthy young men You're begging the question. Perhaps healthy young bachelors are the ones quitting their jobs to make the next social-coupon-micro-dating websites because they are the only ones who aren't constrained by the factors we're discussing.

rshigeta 16y ago

That's debate in the US - everyone just says 'what is good for me'. The point of the article is that in Norway, the evaluation of 'what is good for us' works for them suprisingly well and doesn't stop people from starting businesses.